Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Do I need plants in the pond?

I have pics of my pond under "creating habitat" section titled: new pond pics and a question for ya. So you can see what I have. Thank being said, I have LMB, YP and FHM in there right now. How important is it to get some plants going in there? It was suggested I plant some iris and maybe some arrowhead plants. In the fall I have to get the top covered with soil and get grass going, but how quickly should I get plants going? What do they do for the pond and the fish? Thanks!

This is my thoughts on plants in a pond. Others might think differently, and I respect their thoughts. I'd like to hear their thoughts as well.

My take on it is that plants both hinder and help the pond. I'm talking about submerged plants (plants that grow mostly under the water surface). They help the pond by utilizing the nutrients that accumulate in the pond from the fish and from any runoff, helping to minimize algae problems. They also provide places for some species of fish to lay their eggs (GSH and YP), and places for YOY to hide and feed. They provide surfaces for smaller invertebrates to grow on, helping with increase the lower end of the food chain. Some species of Pondweed will provide shade for the fish.

All things in moderation tho. They can get out of control, choking off areas that would be used for swimming or fishing. They will die and decay during the winter, using up O2 when the pond is iced over.

If you are talking about plants above the water line, they should be started as soon as the pond is finished. Without them (i.e. grass, etc.) you can have huge amounts of soil wash into the pond.

I had that happen with my pond, and I lost a good 3' of water depth in the deepest part of the pond.

That makes sense. So first thing I should do is get grass going. Well I have to get some topsoil over the clay first. I'm in ny and the temps are hot and dry, try planting some grass now or wait for fall?

If you can rig up a pump and water the seeds a couple of times a day to keep it moist, plant now. Every time the seed dries out after it starts germinating, you'll lose roughly 50% of the seedlings.

If that's not possible, plant in the fall and pray that you don't get any gully washers before the seedlings get established. I had to re-grade around the pond a few times before the grass was thick enough to prevent any erosion.

I was afraid u were going to say that. It is my vacation property and I'm not there enough to water it daily. Guess I'm gonna have to wait till fall.

That being said, what holds better, the clay or soil? I wad going to have topsoil delivered and spread it along the top. Should I do that and wait to seed in the fall or just leave the hard clay for now and do everything at once in Sept?

I'd wait 'till the Fall. The topsoil might erode along with some of the clay by the Fall, and you'd have to re-grade anyway. If the clay washes into the pond, it might get "muddy". If it's still "muddy" when the grass fills in we can address that problem then.

Very good, thanks for the insight.

Check on erosion control fabric..Sometimes you can get the biodegradable very reasonable. Put it down where your slopes are the greatest then seed with perenial rye. It will come up in six to seven days. Then this fall over seed with a more desirable grass blend.

The previous posts covered above the waterline quite well. My gut feeling is that you'll need a significant amount of submerged vegetation to make that species mix sustainable (LMB/YP/FHM). From what I've read, even SMB can put a YP/FHM forage base in jeopardy if there is minimal cover for YP YOY in a small pond.

I noticed from your old posts that you had BC too. I haven't read much on BC and don't know how cover affects their survival. My best guess is that the BC recruitment will increase significantly with submerged vegetation. In that case, putting in enough vegetation to make YP sustainable will result in an overpopulation of BC. On top of that, predators supposedly prefer the fusiform body of YP and will target them accordingly.

Basically, if the crappie are gone you'll need vegetation for cover and spawning structure for the YP. If the crappie are still there, your YP and FHM populations are probably living on borrowed time regardless. Either the BC will out-compete and out-reproduce the YP (with vegetation) or the BC/LMB combo will eliminate YP recruitment through predation (without vegetation).